i'm wolf blitzer in washington. we begin with special coverage of the boston bombing investigation. today marks two weeks since the terror attack. here is the latest information. russian special forces have raided a jihadist group with possible ties to the suspected

bomber, tamerlan tsarnaev. russia says two of the jihadists were killed in the raid in dagestan. the mother of the bombing suspects just this morning told cnn she will come to the united states if she can see her son, dzhokhar. the moment she steps on u.s. soil though she could be arrested on outstanding shoplifting charges. the mother is increasingly becoming a focus of the investigation after russian officials gave the u.s. a wiretap of her possibly discussing jihad back in 2011 with one of her sons. and we're learning more about the so-called mystery man accused of radicalizing the older tsarnaev brother. the u.s. official telling cnn the fbi has interviewed someone named misha about his association with the tsarnaevs. a writer for the new york review of books tracked the man to a modest apartment in rhode island that he shares with his elderly parents. the man denies brainwashing tamerlan tsarnaev and says he has spoken with the fbi and given them his computer and cell

phone. now to the surviving suspect in the boston marathon blast. two weeks ago he was partying with classmates after the bombings. now, dzhokhar tsarnaev is living in a 10 by 10 foot cell in a federal prison in massachusetts. our don lemon is outside this prison medical facility in devens about 40 miles west of boston. don, tell us more about this place and what we're learning about the conditions this 19-year-old suspect is living in. >> you see, wolf, a sign right behind me it said devens federal medical center. a sprawling facility about 40 miles west of boston. extra security added. i went up and talked to those guys and said are you guys normally here and they said, no, we're not normally here. number one to keep people out who may be looking and if the media needs any information, they direct them. but also to make sure no one gets in and does any funny business to try to get in to see this high-value detainee here.

1,044 people here he's one of them. wolf, he's in a special part of this facility with 34 people. he's one of 34 in the special secured part of the facility. just to show you a graphic, it's really a small cell that he's in. 10 by 10 foot cell, not much to be made of that cell. there's a food slot in the door, a metal door. and then there's a small window over that slot so they can monitor him. they're monitoring him 24 hours a day. we say 10 by 10, you get an idea of what it is, but just a visual to show you what it's like. it's not very much space to move around in. this is what we just happened to have a tent that's 10 by 10. food slot about this size little more than a foot long, maybe a foot and a half long and a window above that. and then there's a small bed we are told and then a sink and a toilet. and then not much more room to move around in especially for someone not used to being locked up, someone who just lived in an apartment and dorm room much bigger than this.

but the people here say and people who are watching are saying if he is guilty, wolf, this is probably too big for him because of the horrific crime that he's committed -- he is accused of doing. also, we're told he is talking now. you know, he had that wound to his neck and he wasn't able to talk for a while. he is talking. he's talking to the medical people here, the medical team, the doctors and the nurses about his condition, telling them how he feels. but we are told he is not speaking with investigators since his miranda rights were read to him. he's really not giving them very much information. wolf. >> usually in these maximum security prisons around they th other than that little window at the door. so he doesn't see the sunshine or anything like that. but normally they do let them out one hour a day, 23 hours couped up in that 10 by 10 foot cell, one hour a day he's out. is he healthy enough? do we know his condition? is he healthy enough to go outside that cell? >> we don't know if he's healthy enough to go outside the cell,

but the new information we learned from ashleigh banfield is when he came into decons medical center after that almost 24-hour manhunt he was in pretty bad shape, but he recovered rather quickly. we know last week before they transferred him to this facility he was in really serious condition and we're not sure he was going to make it. apparently he is doing a lot better. he is able to talk. he is up and moving arntd, but they're not sharing with us whether or not he's able to go outside of that cell. wolf. >> all right. we'll get more information. i know during the course of the next few days, don, thank you. authorities are digging deeper into how a muslim jihadist in russia may have influenced the bombing suspect tamerlan tsarnaev. an overnight raid is raising more questions about whether he had ties to extremists there. russian special forces carried out the raid in dagestan, that's in southern russia. our nic robertson is on the scene for us as he has been these past several days. what happened, nic, how is this

possibly linked to tamerlan tsarnaev? >> one of the things that tamerlan tsarnaev did when he left russia was posteo o a rebel commander. now, it is one of his lieutenants, if you will, who was killed in that overnight raid by russian special forces here. there is no concrete proof that tamerlan met this sub commander who was killed in the operation. but it is an indication of the ongoing battle of the russian security forces here are having with the rebels in the mountains. only the day before 20 more rebels killed in another special forces operation. it's all part of a background of what's happening here, but does this have a specific link to tamerlan? we don't know that at this stage. but it does show that the people that he was idolizing and posting on his social networking sites, the people he was idolizing are the people in the

crosshairs of russian special forces right now, wolf. >> nic, as you know, the russian authorities recently turned over to the u.s. a transcript of what they say was a wiretapped conversation involving tsarnaev's mother discussing jihad with someone on this end of the conversation here in the united states. what do we know about this? >> we know that it had what would have been termed as sort of vague or loose references for jihad. an indication that there was a conversation between tamerlan and his mother while she was here and he was still in the united states that related to criminal potential terrorist activities. this is sort of one of the tiny pieces of information that the russians have provided. this didn't come, this transcript didn't come when the fbi was first informed by the russian security services, fsb, about tamerlan and about their

concerns about him. this is something come om only in recent days, wolf. >> as far as they're coming over here to the united states, they keep saying they're going to come. the father says he's ill now, he can't come. but the mother keeps saying she'll come if she can see her son. but if she comes, she potentially could be arrested on shoplifting charges because she skipped out, never went to court on those charges that were awaiting her. >> wolf, it's been very difficult to nail down with her what the real facts are in regards of her real intentions to come to the united states. she has said that her lawyers have told her that if she comes, then she wouldn't face any criminal prosecution on those shoplifting charges. she does appear now to be a person of interest. would she be questioned in relation to the specifically further questions in relation to the boston bombing, in relation to the tapping, in relation to the phone conversation we're now

aware of. that big caveat, only if she can see her son in that medical facility, wolf. >> all right. we'll see what happens on that front. nic on the scene for us in southern russia. trying to find out whether had tie to muslim jihadists in russia certainly a major part of this criminal investigation. let's bring in the former fbi assistant director, our cnn analyst tom fuentes. tom, you've got this raid overnight russia targeting this jihadist group, tamerlan tsarnaev posting a video by the group's former leader on a social media site. walk us through how this part of the investigation is unfolding. if you will, take us behind the scenes? >> wolf, i think the behind the scenes is that the russians have never stopped looking at the cell that abu dijan was in charge of. so this is a group going back several years they're doing surveillance on, probably have

extensive coverage to even include the mosque where they go, other safehouses if they can identify them. they're intercepting tamerlan's mother and we don't exactly still know why or for how long or how many other conversations she had. is she making calls internally within russia to other members of this organization? we still don't know that. so this is a terror cell that the russians are looking at for a long time leading to the raid in december where they actually kill other key people in that safeho ey stiee looking at the remnants to include a subordinate, possibly successor, who they killed this weekend in another raid. the activities were ongoing long before tamerlan himself comes into the picture and long after he's out of the picture. so i don't think we know for sure exactly the participation that he may have had or the people he may have met with yet, but you would think the russians

may know that. >> as you know, the russians did formally notify the fbi and the cia before tamerlan tsarnaev last year wept back to russia for six months, notified him he's a man of concern because of alleged ties to terrorists over there. the u.s. asked the russians for more information. they never received more information. but in the past couple days now they did give over the transcript of a wiretap conversation between the suspect's mother discussing jihad with someone here in the u.s. and the suspicion is it was tamerlan. what does this part of the investigation say to you? >> well, the first part of that, wolf, i don't know for sure that they turned over the full transcript of the conversation. but maybe turned over a summary where the word jihad is spoken. and they're still not sure of t. is he telling his mother i don't believe in jihad or i want to join jihad or what do you think of people that do jihad? if you don't know the whole

conversation verbatim or the context of the series of the conversation, it's hard to pluck a word out and say, okay, this is what they were going to do. as far as his relationship to other terrorist groups, you know, we still have not had that confirmed that he absolutely met people and was trained by them by members of a group that they were watching, i might add. i think what this shows for many investigators is the theory that the russians weren't concerned about him attacking in the u.s. they thought they've picked this jihad up and they're wondering is he fund raising in the u.s.? is he recruiting other members of background either dagestan or chechnya background to go with him and fight against the russians? so it looks like they may have just been concerned that he is radicalizing and they don't tell us how at the time or how they know it, but he's becoming more radical. and they're fear is he's going to come to russia and attack russians.

not really thinking. so when the fbi concludes the investigation cannot find any suspicious ties to anybody else in the u.s. he's not fund raising in the u.s. he's not advocating support specifically financial or other at the time for another terrorist organization. and the only bad phone calls now we know they may be bad, but at the time he's calling his mother. he's calling his father. t wouldn't rise to the suspicion unless you know that the mother is the subject of their investigation that they have concerns about her. so the letter that goes to the cia is the identical one that went to the fbi. so that's just a separate communication. and the cia wouldn't be auorizedo do investigation in the united states anyway. that would have been turned over to the fbi and see the fbi had already done the investigation. but when the fbi closes the case, it's clear to the russians that we can find no evidence that he's supporting the group there to possibly attack them. so that's a possible explanati r them not even responding.

>> i know the russians are always concerned about terrorism in russia as well. and they have legitimate concerns given the history of terrorist attacks in russia. all right. tom, thanks very much. here's more of what we're working on this hour. we're also getting some new details on this mysterious misha, the shadowy figure accused of supposedly radicalizing tamerlan tsarnaev. we're going to hear from a reporter who tracked him down and spoke with him. also, we're following other news here in the "cnn newsroom" including michael jackson's life and death. it will be back in the spotlight. today, his family and promoter of his concert get ready to battle it out in the courtroom. on everything from home repair to healthcare written by people just like you. if you want to save yourself time and avoid a hassle, goo gis list. at angie's list, you'll find the right person to do the job you need. and you'll find the right person quickly and easily. i'm busy, busy, busy, busy. thank goodness for angie's list. from roofers to plumbers to dentists and more,

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last weeks of rehearsal for what was to be his grand comeback. the exhausted 50-year-old insomniac died in 2009 from an overdose ofates and surgical anesthetic propofol. dr. conrad murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for giving jackson the fatal dose in an effort to help him sleep. he's in prison. now, the company that promoted the comeback tour, aeg live, is fighting legal claims jackson's mother and children that it shares responsibility for the singer's death because it hired and supervised murray. >> what do you think as his mother, caused his death? >> i don't know. all i know is they used propofol. and they shouldn't have used it. and they used it in the wrong setting. that's all i know and that's what caused his death. >> the gist of the plaintiff's claim against aeg is that you've controlled dr. murray and you used your control over dr.

murray to pressure him into taking unnecessary and excessive risk with his patient, michael jackson, leading to michael jackson's death. >> aeg live's attorney says there was never a signed contract with murray and that jackson was the only one who controlled him. >> he was chosen by michael jackson to be there at michael jackson's behalf. he'd be michael jackson's doctor alone, this was only being done alone because michael jackson asked for it. michael jackson was the only person who could get rid of him at will. >> potential witnesses include jackson's three children. quincy jones could testify about the billions michael jackson would have earned if he lived. money his heirs now want from aeg. >> casey's joining us now live. we know, casey, the courtroom is rather small. this trial is not being televised. so what time are they expected to get underway. what will take place when the

jury is actually seated? >> wolf, it's expected to get underway in about 45 minutes. and each side will have two and a half hours to present their opening arguments. michael jackson's family will go first and attorneys for aeg live will follow. they'll both lay out their versions of who is to blame for michael jackson's death and their perspectives on the very central question here, was conrad murray an employee of aeg live? that company says, no, he was not. he was operating at michael jackson's discretion. the jackson family says it was aeg live's responsibility and they're the ones who h and were goio dr. murray. that's what's going to unfold over the next two to four months, wolf. >> casey wian on the scene for us. all right, thanks very much, casey. other news we're following including a killer who is on the loose in northern california. 8-year-old lela fowler is dead.

her 8-year-old brother found her stabbed and wounded outside the family's home in sacramento on saturday. she later died. the brother told police he'd seen an intruder leaving the house. the sheriff's department says it has a lot of evidence including fingerprints and possibly dna. flight delays are coming to an end, but president obama still hasn't signed the bill to stop those air traffic control furloughs. the reason? a simple typo. we'll explain that and much more coming up. maxwell is not. he's on geico.com setting up an appointment with an adjuster. ted is now on hold with his insurance company. maxwell is not and just confirmed a 5:30 time for tuesday. ted, is still waiting. yes! maxwell is out and about... with ted's now ex-girlfriend. wheeeee! whoo! later ted! online claims appointments. just a click away on geico.com. to prove to you that aleve is the better choice for him, he's agreed to give it up. that's today?

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hopefully things should be back to normal in the skies today. lawmakers last week passed an emergency measure to end the furloughs of air traffic controllers that resulted from those forced federal spending cuts. those furloughs were blamed for thousands of flight delays. rene marsh is joining us now. rene, at one point over the weekend one small little typo threatened to delay this fix. it still hasn't been quite worked out. explain what happened. >> that's right. well, wolf, this is the delay. the senate version of the bill has a typo. lawmakers worked really fast to get this done, but the problem is someone overlooked a small little detail, the word account

is missing an s. so now there's a delay in the president signing into law this bill that suspends furloughs of air traffic controllers. but there is some good news for travelers, air traffic controllers have been called back to work. today, the faa told cnn things have been back on track at airports since saturday. most of the delays that they saw this weekend they say were weather-related and equipment failures. we should let you know, wolf, that the senate plans on fixing their version of the bill tomorrow. >> as you know, the airlines were putting a lot of pressure on congress, rene, to end these furloughs. so will this change keep the industry happy? >> well, wolf, look, bottom line is this. when fliers are happy, the industry's happy. this really caused a big disruption in the system, the flow of things, airports couldn't land as many planes, not as many airlines could make sure that their planes were

taking off on time, fliers, they were missing flights. some planes even had to be idle in the air space longer than usual before they were cleared for landing. so ultimately that was a lotme, money. so when all of that goes away and the fliers are happy, you've got to believe that the industry will be happy as well. >> the forced spending cuts also, rene, threatening to close what about 150 small, medium-sized air traffic control towers around the country. does this emergency measure affect this part of the story? >> well, we spoke with one representative representing those air traffic control towers and they say that they're happy to hear about this bill, but they also say it remains unclear what this really means for the towers that are slated to close or lose funding. in their words they say that the bill does not explicitly address this particular issue. so what they're doing right now is they're actively lobbying

lawmakers to make sure that the money being freed up is notnl c, but also to keep those tow wolf >> all right. rene, thanks very much. rene marsh reporting. let's go to new york right now. cnn's mary snowe is on the scene for us. mary, you've been taking a closer look at that wreckage from one of those boeing jetliners that crashed into the twin towers back on 9/11. and a piece of the wreckage all of a sudden now all these years later has been found wedged in between two buildings. what are you learning? >> yeah. it was awolf, late last week. and it was found in a very tight alley space blocks from ground zero. we have new information and new video you're seeing on the other side of the screen there. video just released by the new york city police department. this plane wreckage is believed to be from the september 11th terror attack. what the nypd is saying is they've been given information from boeing that this wreckage

is pt of a wing structure, not the landing gear, that was first believed. there are a lot of questions that still remain about how it's remained there. and also there was questions about why a piece of rope was still attached to it. thunclear. the police department saying though that it has no doubt that the wreckage is part of one of two planes that hit the world trade center. what's unknown is if united flight 175 or american airlines flight 11. now, the space where it was found is a little bit wider, if you can imagine this, tha 1 1/2 feet. the police has treated this as a crime scene. and, is that the city's medical examiner's office is going to be going into this area tomorrow morning and sift for possible human remains that are still there. wolf. >> all right. let us know what's going on. i know you'll get much more later in the day as well as this story develops. mary, thank you. he's a friend of the

tsarnaev family and he's simply known as misha. but did the shadowy figure actually radicalize the older brother? we're going to hear from the rellpo spoke with misha. that's next. ating... ♪ the middle of this special moment and i need to run off to the bathroom. ♪ i'm fed up with always having to put my bladder's needs ahead of my daughter. ♪ so today, i'm finally talking to my doctor about overactive bladder symptoms. [ female announcer ] know that gotta go feeling? ask your doctor about prescription toviaz. one toviaz pill a day significantly reduces sudden urges and accidents, for 24 hours. if you have certain stomach problems or glaucoma, or can not empty your bladder, you should not take toviaz. get emergency medical help right away if your face, lips, throat or tongue swells. toviaz can cause blurred vision, dizziness, drowsiness and decreased sweating. do not drive, operate machinery or do unsafe tasks until you know how toviaz affects you.

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for more information including cost support options, call 1-888-xarelto or visit goxarelto.com. the terror in boston has resulted in a feud over racial profiling. the suspects are muslim. and a new york congressman wants law enforcement to put a greater focus on that community. but some say not so fast. cnn's carol costello has the story. >> as bostonians continue to mourn and ask why, the political fight over how to prevent another attack rages on. if you ask republican congressman peter king, he'll tell you forget about being politically correct. >> most muslims is outstanding people, but the threat is coming from the muslim community. tom friedman said we must ask a question only muslims can answer. what is going on in your community that a critical number of your youth believes that

every american action justifies a terror response? it's coming from the community. >> he says it's imperative to ramp up surveillance of muslim communities. >> really everything that has been done in the past decade has failed. >> the director of the american islamic congress in boston. nine days after 9/11 attacks he was detained by police, put in a cell for hours and interrogated. a victim of what peter king is suggesting, racial profiling, he says. >> not all muslims look a certain way. not all muslims are religious. and most muslims belong to different traditions. >> others say king's laser focus on the muslim community may divert attention away from other threats like the man accused of sending a letter to president obama laced with cin. >> we don't have enough law enforcement resources to go

after just one community. remember, we went after a communityn world war ii. and the japanese internment is a national stand on our country. >> politics aside back in boston most just want to know why. and sadly that answer is slow in coming. >> carol costello's joining us live now from boston. carol, since the september 11 attacks, wherever someone says terror, the finger often quickly pointed at muslims. so what are people in boston it?e you are right now saying >> well, local muslims are telling me that the backlash has begun. it's not as bad as it was after 9/11 that's for sure. but they can hear the taunts coming. and they say the comments coming from congressman peter king only make the backlash worse. they wish he would just tamp down on his comments so they would be -- well, so they wouldn't suffer the backlash obviously. but also the muslim community is more likely to cooperate with authorities if police embrace

that community and not treat everyone in that community as a suspect. >> it's been exactly two weeks today since the blast occurred, carol. what does it look like now? i believe you're on boylston street where that marathon ended. >> that's right. i'm right at the finish line where that first bomb went off. and as you can see it looks pretty normal. take a look around, people are walking up and down the sidewalk. you can't really tell a bomb here went off. but of course people areaking pictures too, that's sort of unusual at the marathon place, this sporting goods store. but if you take a look at the ground, like all of this concrete has been repaired. all of the brickwork has been repaired. and that happened on saturday. we have a picture of construction workers, union workers who came out and provided their services for free. the mayor of boston wanted the street to look perfectly normal by this weekend so that people would come down and live life as they normally do. there are still some signs that bomb went off though as you can see, take a look at marathon

place. this is a store. you can see the windows are still boarded up and there's some damage to the building next door. but as you can see, marathon sports is open for business as is the candy store next door. and hopefully they'll make up all of that money that they lost because they were closed for more than a few days, as you might expect because of these bombings. but i must say, wolf, the streets are packed. life looks normal. but everybody's quite aware of what happened here. >> yeah, they certainly are. but i like that feeling of boston strong and the people in boston, they are strong as a result of what has happened. thanks so much for that, carol's on the scene for us in boston. we're going to hear more from congressman peter king by the way. he's going to join me in "the situation room" later today 5:00 p.m. eastern. we'll go in depth with him. jason collins has become the first openly gay athlete in pro sports. collins is with the washington wizards.

he tells sports illustrated and i'm quoting now "i'm 34-year-old nba center. i'm black. and i'm gay." very revealing a candid interview in which he discusses coming out first to his aunt. he says her acceptance made him comfortable in his own skin. he didn't tell his twin brother until last summer. he says his twin was astounded so much for twin telepathy he's joking about that. the commissioner david stern issues a statement saying "as adam silver and i saido jason -- adam is the deputy commissioner -- we have known the collins family since jason and jarron joined the nba family in 2001 and they have been exemplary members of the nba family. jason is a widely respected player and teammate throughout his career and we are proud he has assumed the leadership mantle on this very important issue. by the way, the former president of the united states bill

clinton also issued a statement stanford university issued a statement in support of jason collins decision to go public with his being a homosexual. very proud of my friend jason collins for having the strength and courage to be the first openly gay player in the nba. chelsea clinton wrote on twitter and her father the former president echoed that sentiment. i have known jason collins since he was chelsea's classmate and friend at standford. an important moment for professional sports and the history of the lgbt community. those statements coming in. we'll have much more on this story later in "the situation room" as well. meanwhile, a martial arts instructor is in court today accused of sending letters tainted with the deadly poison ricin to president obama and other officials. i don't make any decisions about who to hire without going to angie's list first. you'll find reviews on home repair to healthcare written by people just like you. with angie's list, i know who to call,

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let's go to oxford, mississippi, right now where a couple hours ago the man accused of sending ricin-tainted letters to president obama and other government officials made a brief court appearance. his n james everett dutschke, a former martial arts instructor. alena is covering the case for us in oxford. tell us what happened in the court today. >> wolf, dutschke walked into the courtroom wearing his orange jumpsuit. his hands were cuffed at the waist. his feet shackled. his demeanor seemed very calm and confident. he answered all the judges questions clearly. this despite the fact he's facing a very serious federal charge of knowingly developing, producing, stockpiling and possessing a biological agent for use as a weapon. that agent according to federal

authorities was ricin. this morning's court appearance was very brief. it lasted about eight minutes. the affidavit in this case has been sealed. that's where we hope to learn a little bit more about what led authorities to move in on dutschke and make this arrest on saturday. but we are told that this affidavit could potentially be unsealed very, very soon. wolf. >> dutschke has a court-appointed attorney now, alina. tell us a little more about this. >> well, that attorney his name is george lucas, we learned that he has met with dutschke a couple of times. those meetings were very brief. when we talked to him right after the hearing he said that he hadn't really had a chance to look at the complaint that had been filed. that complaint had been in his hands for about 15 minutes. so one can assume he's going to be going through that complaint with his client before the next hearing. wolf. >> all right, alina, thanks very much on the scene for us in oxford, mississippi. this is the scene today in

bangladesh. look at this. rescuers startedng heavy machinery to remove wreckage on the site of a collapsed building. that indicates the hunt for survivors is ending. almost 400 people are confirmed dead. it's not certain how many are still missing, but some estimates suggest more than 600 people remain buried in the rubble. distraught family members have refused to leave since the building crumbled on wednesday. it housed factories that made clothes for people here in the united states and in europe. authorities have arrested the man who owns the building. back here in th united states we're seeing major flooding in the midwest. fargo, north dakota, is getting hit pretty hard right now. warm temperatures are speeding up the pace of the snow melt. and that has rivers surging. the red river is expected to crest wednesday at 37 feet. that's just three feet below the all-time record level. we're getting new details on misha, the mystery figure accused of radicalizing tamerlan

tsarnaev. we're going to hear from a reporter who actually tracked down misha and spoke with him.

we're get ndetails on a man who's been accused of brainwashing the boston marathon bombing suspect tamerlan tsarnaev and turning him into a strict islamist. the man has been referred to only so far as misha by members of the tsarnaev family. a writer for the new york review of books actually tracked down

this individual to a modest apartment in rhode island. take a listen as he describes their conversation. >> when i asked him about tamerlan tsarnaev, he made it very clear that he had indeed known him. he did not specify any details about the nature of their relationship, but he was very, very, very intense on explaining he had nothing to do with any kind of radicalization. what he told me was i was not his teacher. if i had been his teacher, i would make sure he knew that doing something like this was wrong. so he was very, very emphatic about that, very upset. went to great lengths to convince me that he really had nothing to do with this. and he made the point -- he claimed to me that the fbi had told him that his case was in fact about to be closed because the fbi had investigated his computer, his cell phone, all of his equipment and documents and concluded that he wasn't really

involved, certainly not involved in the organization of the attack. is that true? i don't know, but we still have to find out. >> the writer, by the way christian caryl says misha shares his rhode island apartment with his elderly parents. president obama has been criticized for a lack of diversity in his cabinet. so will this pick for transportation secretary stop the critics? hey! [squeals] ♪ [ewh!] [baby crying] the great thing about a subaru is you don't have to put up with that new car smell for long. introducing the versatile, all-new subaru forester. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. a brand new start.

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mr. president, you're going to leave office a very young man and yet the presidency has taken its toll. i don't want to alarm you, r, but you're starting to look like a judge on "law & order." just say you're on thin ice, counselor, you could have that part right away. seriously, mr. president, your hair is so white it could be a member of your cabinet. >> tough line. that was conan o'brien as the white house correspondents' dinner taking a jab at president obama over his supposed lack of diversity in his cabinet. today, the president names the first african-american cabinet pick of his second term. he's chosen charlotte, north carolina, mayor anthony fox as his nominee to become the nation's next transportation secretary succeeding ray lahood. angela, a principal at the

impact strategies group, angela, thanks very much for coming in. so what's your take on thissugg has not been diverse enough in his selections for his second term cabinet? >> well, wolf, i think as the president has mentioned in several other interviews, this is just the beginning. anthony foxx is certainly a great start in the right direction with his background serving as a mayor of a major metropolitan area and even serving as one of the primary reasons why the dratic national convention went so well i think it's certainly a step in the right direction. >> so you expect more of this to take place? when you say a step in the right direction, what are you anticipating? >> i anticipate that the president will continue to appoint diverse officials. we saw this in his first cabinet with secretary -- i'm sorry, attorney general holder, epa

administrator lisa jackson and others. he'd made susan rice and ron kirk cabinet level positions, i certainly expect he will continue to do that as he addresses criticism that doesn't justify to his cabinet but also throughout corporate america. in fact, we see that oftentimes in the media when folks are merging. i know for example cnn has also faced criticism. so when you deal with criticism, it's really all about the response. and the president is just beginning to respond. >> the charlotte mayor, i got to know him a little bit when i was in charlotte at the democrac convention. by all accounts he did an excellent job. what do you think, is he going to have any controversy on his confirmation? as you know, so many of the president's nominees, they've had pretty rough going during those confirmation hearings. >> i think it's safe to say, wolf, that the president period has had pretty rough going whether it's this latest gun control measure or what we expect to see with comprehensive immigration reform, the nominees have certainly been catching it

from hagel to, you know, now mayor ype of criticism that hagel faced. we know kerry was certainly easy to kind of get through the confirmation process, but the good thing about mayor foxx is that he doesn't have a long history in the federal government having accomplishments there. his accomplishments exist on the municipality level. and they're great as it relates to transportation. so i think he'll be on the easier side whereas a nominee like labor nominee perez may have a because of his role in the civil rights division at the department of justice. >> angela rye, thanks very much for coming in. the president by the way going toakform announcement hour around 2:10 p.m. is what the white house says. the president even took aim at himself along with media and

predecessor president bush. >> i went to the opening of the bush presidential library in dallas. it was a wonderful event. that inspired me to get started on my own legacy, which will actually begin by building another edifice right next to the bush library. can we show that please? >> the dinner not only gives reporters a chance to socialize with the pe who run washington, but also gives them a chance to socialize with some of the major hollywood stars who show up every year. in our next hour our suzanne malveaux will share some of what she saw at the dinner. stay tuned for that. the next presidential three years away, but hillary clinton already topping the list in one poll. she hasn't even said if she is going to run. the big question though is this,

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many of the runners at the oklahoma city memorial marathon offered a tribute to the boston bombing victims. they wore red socks, a connection of course to boston baseball team. ten people who ran in the boston marathon also took part in yesterday's event. it's held annually to honor those killed in the oklahoma

city bombing. "cnn newsroom" coverage continues right now. this is our special coverage of the boston bombings. i'm wolf blitzer. two weeks after the terror attacks here in the united states russia launches an attack on suspected jihadists half a world away. russia forces raided a militant group with possible ties to the suspected boston bomber tamerlan tsarnaev. russia says two of the jihadists thatere killed in the raid in dagestan. meanwhile, the bombing suspect dzhokhar tsarnaev is now locked inside a 10 x 10 foot cell with a steel door, a slot for food and a small observation window in that door. a prison spokesman says the 19-year-old is now able to speak and has been interacting with medical staff. and a memorial for the victims continues to grow in boston's